Friday, December 16, 2011

Filipino workers may soon be able to return to #Lebanon

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) may soon be
able to return to Lebanon, the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA) said Tuesday.

POEA administrator Carlos Cao Jr. disclosed in a phone interview
Tuesday that the Philippine government is set to sign a new memorandum
of understanding (MoU) with Lebanon next month, which may allow OFWs to
go back to the Middle East country.
“The agreement will serve as a bilateral agreement, which will allow
Lebanon to comply with the requirements under Republic Act 10022,” Cao
said.
Under RA 10022, the government must assure there are labor laws,
bilateral agreements, ratified conventions or other concrete measures to
protect the rights of OFWs in countries, where they are being deployed.
Non-compliant countries like Lebanon will be then issued a deployment ban.
However, Cao said the MoU will not lead to the immediate lifting of
the deployment ban since the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will
still have to conduct a separate security assessment of the areas where
the OFWs will be deployed.
The Philippine government earlier issued a deployment ban to Lebanon
in 2006 due to the escalating tension between Israel and the Lebanese
Hezbollah movement.
Coalition of Licensed Agencies for Domestic and Service Workers
(CLAD) President Estrelita Hizon welcomed this development, saying this
will allow OFWs to legally enter Lebanon and participate in its growing
labor market.
She said since the ban took effect five years ago at least 30,000
undocumented household service workers were still able to enter and work
in the Middle East country.
“The lifting of the ban augurs well for our OFWs since they will now
be protected and covered with welfare benefits by the POEA and Overseas
Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA),” Hizon said.
Meanwhile, the government is also mulling on issuing a partial
deployment ban to Libya, which will last beyond the Christmas season.
Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said in a separate interview that
the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has already submitted a report
to the Office of the President, recommending the reduction of its
security alert level.
This will then allow the POEA to deploy returning OFWs back to the North African country.
“This will lower the alert level for Lebanon and allow OFWs to return even beyond the Christmas season,” Cruz said.